ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — A couple weeks ago, the ever collaborative George Paton approached his young star running back Javonte Williams to get his thoughts on bringing back his veteran partner from last season, Melvin Gordon III.
Williams’ response: Bring him back. He brings the best out of me.
The more I think about it, the more Gordon’s return makes sense. Initially, it was a bit of headscratcher. Asking a veteran running back to accept a demotion from 1A to 1B – the plan is for Williams to be the lead back this year – and with a considerable pay reduction from an $8 million annual average to $2.5 million this year conjures up the possibility of a midseason malcontent. Even if Gordon can make another $1.5 million through incentives.
Winning, though, generates good moods, at least for non-New England teams. And if the Broncos do win as all expect now that they have Russell Wilson, bringing back Gordon is a good move for two reasons.
One, the Broncos are all in on Wilson as their quarterback. He must be protected. And Gordon is a big-body running back who is good in pass protection. Almost all rookie running backs struggle with blitz pickups. Not that they physically can’t block a rushing linebacker but they can find it difficult in year one recognizing where the fifth attacker is coming from.
For the most part, Javonte Williams was an exception last year. But do you want, say, a fourth-round rookie running back spelling Williams on third-and-7 with Wilson in the pocket? No need to draft a third- or fourth-round running back now. There should still be a good one or two among the undrafted crop.
The other reason is Javonte’s running style. He is a tremendous tackle-breaking, physical runner. But because he’d rather run through a tackler than elude him, it’s good to keep him fresh.
“They both ran for like 900 yards last year, right?’’ said Broncos receiver Tim Patrick. “Just another piece of the puzzle, man. It’s going to be scary this season, better believe that.”
If Williams has to miss a series or two because of a twisted ankle or whatever, the Broncos and Wilson may have been in trouble if they had left a rookie to share the workload with Mike Boone, who otherwise adds substantial juice from his third-string role.
Plus, look at head coach Nathaniel Hackett’s offense with Green Bay the previous three years. Last season. AJ Dillon rushed for 803 yards while Aaron Jones had 799. The two combined for 86 catches out of the backfield.
In 2020, Jones was the more prominent back with 1,104 yards rushing and 47 catches, but Jamal Williams rushed for 505 yards and had 31 catches. This was similar to the 2019 season – Jones was clearly No. 1 but Jamaal Williams was a productive No. 2.
“Melvin, with him being back in the system, he’s just going to give us another guy back there to run the outside zone, third down situations,’’ said Broncos’ offensive coordinator Justin Outten, who was an assistant under Hackett in Green Bay. “Just having that 1-2 punch.’’
Whether Javonte and Melvin are 1A and 1B, or No. 1 and No. 2, the Broncos should have a top 10 running game to help Wilson’s play-action, boot passing game. Especially when Wilson himself is capable of adding 500 yards rushing off scrambles.
Then there’s the bonus that Wilson and Gordon were college teammates for one year at Wisconsin. What more do you need?
Welcome back, Melvin.
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